Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Instagram Template with Google Slides

For better or for worse, students are all over Social Media - so why not give them a little of what they love mixed in with the learning? My friend Ryan O'Donnell, (@creativeedtech), is quite talented with creating templates and he made an Instagram post template in Google Slides that caught my eye and sparked my imagination. There are so many fun ways to use this in the classroom! You can get a copy of his template by clicking the link I provide at the end of this post. Here is a glance at what he has created:

How could you use this in the classroom, you ask? Here are a few examples:

Summarizing chapters or sections of a book:
It takes quite a bit of skill to boil a summary down to a few sentences that truly capture the main ideas of a chapter. Students can create a Slides file from the template where each slide becomes the summary for each section of text you assign. They will need to choose a screen handle and profile picture that are appropriate for the character they are impersonating. They will also choose a picture and some text for their "post". This is an example for Chapter 1 of Charlotte's Web.

Students will need to choose a screen handle and picture appropriate for the historical person they are impersonating. They will find a profile picture and "post" some text. This can be used to summarize an event or show their understanding of an event and/or its importance.

Animal Study:

Students will take on the perspective of the animal and make posts to show their knowledge of that animal's life, habits, habitat, and diet, etc. Think of something like "If an iguana had Instagram". I'll tell you what, I learned quite a bit about Iguanas while creating these "posts" for this example!

When you click on the link above for the template, you can click on the "Use template" button in the upper right. That will make a copy for you. Now you can share it with your students so they each can make a copy. Think of their slideshow as their own social media feed. You can have them make multiple posts around a certain topic or follow a character through a novel, a raindrop through the water cycle, or historical figures through an historical event. There are many ways you can use it! If you want to connect with me using the little green button with the envelope on it in the upper right corner of the website, or by connecting with me on Twitter (@TeachingTechNix), I'd be happy to help you narrow down an idea that works for your curriculum.